Reporting to the Executive Vice President, the Director of Development leads all initiatives related to raising the financial support of Access Living, including individual giving, corporate and foundation support, government grants, and fundraising events. This individual manages a team of four fundraising professionals: the Manager of Grants and Planned Giving; the Marketing, Event, and Major Gifts Coordinator, and the Government Relations Associate and the Grant Writer, both of whom report to the Manager of Grants and Planned Giving. The Director of Development serves as a member of the senior team, which includes the President/CEO and Executive Vice President; and the Directors of Finance & Administration, Independent Living, Advocacy, and Communications. S/he staffs the Resource Development Committee of the Board of Directors, and attends all Board of Directors meetings to present fundraising plans and goals, and their progress towards them. The Director of Development is responsible for raising funds to meet Access Living’s annual budget, currently $6 million.

S/he will also be responsible for overseeing the remainder of Access Living’s $10 million major gifts campaign for operational priorities and the organization’s endowment, which is expected to successfully conclude in 2020.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Director of Development has the following primary responsibilities:

Develops the organization’s overall fundraising strategy that includes contributions and support from individuals, corporations, foundations, government funding, events and board members.

Cultivates and solicits a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors.

Partners with the CEO on high level cultivations, and where appropriate, represents the CEO.

Directs planning and implementation of all fundraising initiatives of Access Living.

With the Manager of Grants and Planned Giving, determines an effective plan for increasing support from corporations and foundations.

Identifies and researches potential donors using internal and external sources, public records, publications, and personal contacts.

Establish protocols for developing and analyzing donor data and establishing methodology to best use the information in support of ongoing funding to the organization.

QUALIFICATIONS

The Director of Development will bring the following qualities:

A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible senior management experience in fundraising.

Success cultivating and soliciting major gifts.

Previous experience creating and implementing fundraising plans.

Proven ability to use analytics and metrics to evaluate effectiveness and measure performance.

Strong communication skills, and the ability to be articulate, creative, and strategic, and to present a compelling case for support.

Prior experience developing a board’s capacity for fundraising and communicating the organization’s mission.

A collaborative and team-oriented leadership style; the ability to assess and guide the ongoing professional development of a team of fundraisers.

A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent experience.

APPLICATION

Access Living has retained Campbell & Company to conduct this search on their behalf. Marian DeBerry and Joey Scheiber are leading this search. To be considered for this opportunity, please follow the application instructions outlined in the full Position Guide here: https://bit.ly/2CjCub8

About Access Living

In 1972, the independent living movement, with roots in the civil rights and social change movements, began taking shape with the creation of the Berkeley Center for Independent Living – the first American institution of its kind. As other centers for independent living sprang up across the country, a new philosophy emerged -- an "independent living philosophy" that asserts that people with disabilities are their own best advocates and able to make the necessary decisions in order to live, work, and socialize in the community. This was a significant shift away from the prevailing "medical model" which viewed people with disabilities as individuals who needed to be cared for. The community of people with disabilities entered the dawn of a new era.
In 1980, Access Living brought the independent living movement to Illinois when it was founded as part of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago’s (now Shirley Ryan Ability Lab) quest to address the growing need for affordable, accessible housing for its patients ready to leave the RIC.
By the mid-1980's Access Living was a thriving, independent non-profit organization, and began to tackle many of Chicago’s most pressing problems: t...he lack of housing, transportation options for people with disabilities and the need for services to be provided in the community. Successfully linking powerful advocacy efforts around these and other crucial issues to specific client needs enabled Access Living to turn clients into activists, and activists into leaders.
For nearly four decades, Access Living has impacted the lives of thousands of individuals with disabilities through direct services, advocacy, and education. Access Living’s mission, based on the philosophy of the Independent Living Movement, is to empower people with disabilities so they may lead dignified, independent lives, and to foster an inclusive society for all people – with and without disabilities.
A vocal advocate on the forefront of local and national change, Access Living has played a key role in many of the improvements that took shape in Chicago and across the country. At home, Access Living has been a part of several campaigns to make mainline public transportation more accessible. Today, 100% of all CTA buses are lift-equipped. Also, Access Living successfully advocated for and won the allocation of $30 million of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) budget to make schools more accessible. These are a few examples of the impact that Access Living has had and continues to have.
In 2003, Access Living launched Living the Vision: The Campaign to Build a Permanent Home for Access Living. The goal of securing a permanent office space was to ensure Access Living’s financial stability, while allowing the organization to continue to expand and pioneer new programs and standards of service for people with disabilities, both nationally and internationally. On March 5, 2007, the dream became a reality when Access Living opened its doors to a new, state-of-the-art facility that stands as a national model of Universal Design and Green Design.
Confronting the issues posed by inaccessible housing, transportation, and public services is a crucial step in achieving independence. Further, a major component of breaking down physical barriers is changing attitudinal barriers. With an engaging array of cultural events, workshops, trainings, and support groups, Access Living focuses on instilling pride in the way people with disabilities view themselves and fosters dignity in the way others view the disability community.